Is my baby symmetrical? What can I do?

I was having a conversation with someone about how many preemies are born with one side of their body being stronger and more developed than the other.  I don’t know why this happens, but I’ve often had to address this issue in my therapy sessions.  As I was observing  my own new born of 2 weeks, I noticed he ALWAYS turns his head to the left when he sleeps.  I also  noticed his left ear was very flat when he was born and his left chin was chubbier than his right chin.  My conclusion….many babies are born a little uneven and favor one side even from the womb.

Why am I addressing this topic?

Most babies fix themselves as they grow up and develop more motor skills, but as parents if we notice this asymmetry should we just sit back and hope that it corrects itself or is there something we can do?  

As a proactive mother and an experienced therapist, I can definitely say we can help correct this asymmetry and do not have to sit on the sidelines hoping that it will correct itself.

So what can I do as a parent to help my baby be more symmetrical? Here are tips for some basic milestones:

Head position- This can start from the first week.  As I stated earlier, I noticed my baby always turning his head to the left and tilting it to the right on car rides.  So I just turn his head the other way whenever possible while he’s sleeping.

Rolling- you may notice when your baby starts to roll from his back to his tummy that he may prefer to roll only to one side.  He may role independently to one side and need help on the other.  I would encourage you to give as little help for a successful role to the more challenging side. What does this mean…put your hand gently on the baby’s hips and role toward the more difficult side.  When you see your baby wiggling his arms and legs to try to roll over give just a little nudge for a successful role on the more challenging side.  Give the LEAST amount of help as possible.  The more you help, the less your baby does.

Pivoting on the tummy- Before crawling you will notice your babies using their arms and legs to pivot and turn on their tummies. Sometimes they like to pivot only to one direction.  Put toys on the other side or in the center and slowly move it to the other side to encourage them to pivot the the more challenging side.  If they need some assistance you can position the arm straight out to the side of the more difficult side and then put toys there for them to reach.

Cruising- when your baby begins to cruise along the furniture you may notice he likes to cruise to one side more than the other.  You can put toys on the more challenging side to encourage cruising toward that direction.  If they need a little help, gently push the side of their hips to encourage movement in that direction.  

All in all, whatever you see your baby doing on one side make sure he does it on the other even if he needs a little help doing it.  

I think this covers most of the basic milestones.  If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me at judy@spotlight-baby.com

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